Birthday Cruise and Reimer Family Farewell

For my birthday this year, I was treated to a very special experience I was wanting to re-visit for quite some time now--getting to captain a boat again. Thanks to Tan Cheong Heng, I got to realize that dream.

Early that morning, we bought the fuel and made-ready the boat. It was an absolutely calm and fine morning for boating. Our objective, Song-Song Islands to snorkel and maybe catch a fish or two.

Leaving our neighborhood of Tanjong Bunga behind--with Beth Reimer.

My son, Ian wanting to roast in the son.

Cheong Heng preparing his fishing pole as the kids play on the prow.

Amy Reimer and Joshua Lee onboard.

Mark Ng was also onboard, he had never fished before.

Soon, we left the coast line of Tanjong Bunga and Batu Ferringhi in our wake.

I relaxed once I knew the boat was performing well. Simple North-South run for about 18 nautical miles. Cruising at 20 knots, that would be just under 1 hour.

Reimer Family Portrait with Pulau Telur in the background.

"What? What do you mean we are traveling in circles?!!"

Pulau Telur

Woozy from having too much sun...?

I put Jay Reimer on the helm for a bit so I could take a break.

Bentley having a blast.

Aria splashing people enroute

I sent Aria in to spot corals. She was very excited to see them with some fish.

Cheong Heng wasted no time wetting his line and catching the first grouper.

We were catching fish while the kids were splishing and splashing!

"Hey, that's a pretty good fish to catch..."

Ian takes a breather

It was so calm, with minimal tidal flow that it was like being in a pool with fish! 

"I once caught a fish this big!" Poor mudskipper!

Casting for something bigger hopefully.

Although we were having loads of fun, we decided to move to another spot to see what we could discover. We went to the rocky outcrop of Pulau Terendak where the steep drop off might be holding pelagic predators like Barracuda. No luck.

So we went to Pulau Bidan to let the kids swim and have lunch.

In the late afternoon, the wind dropped, the temperature rose in and out of the water and I started feeling ill. Even Jay was feeling heat stressed. But we made it home safely :)

Our ride parked closest to camera.

We had the privilege of knowing the Reimers as colleagues and friends for two years, and sadly, this was our fond farewell to them. Glad they had fun with us!

~ Shien